That is, if the revolution is led by the umami-crazed chefs across the country who are turning to mojama, a kind of Spanish-made salt-cured tuna, and making it the flavor booster du jour.

What Is This Stuff?

While the ingredient has recently become increasingly popular in the States, there's nothing new about mojama.

In fact, it's still produced the same way Spaniards have been making it for centuries in the Southern region of the country: Yellowfin tuna loins are cured in salt for two to three days, the salt is washed off, and the loins finish the curing process while basking in the Spanish sun and gentle ocean breezes for about three weeks.

Not a bad life.

The fish is sold in firm, thick wedges that are easy to grate or shave over pretty much anything. Even just a fine showering of impossibly tiny mojama pieces packs a saline punch.

Who's Using It

New York City's Casa Mono, a decade-old homage to tapas bars of Spain (with chef de cuisine Anthony Sasso's point of view, of course), practically put mojama on the map in the United States. There, one of the most-ordered items on the menu is roasted potatoes topped with a runny duck egg, thin shavings of mojama, and a heaping spoonful of black truffle vinaigrette on top of it all.

Though the mojama is a traditional ingredient in rustic tapas-bar dishes, a new breed of chefs have brought it into a modern context, too. Over in Chicago, Michelin-starred powerhouse restaurant L20 uses mojama in one of its food-verging-on-art plates—the "salade gourmande." Chef Matthew Kirkley artfully arranges thin slices of mojama alongside foie gras, haricots verts, and black truffle.

A few blocks downtown from Casa Mono, chef Ignacio Mattos of Estela in Manhattan uses the specialty product both on his dinner and brunch menus.

"I'm obsessed with the funkiness of it," explains Mattos, "When you eat it, there's a tingle on your palate—it's such a primal, basic thing."

In the year-old restaurant's early days, shaved mojama topped an egg-salad matzo toast that was a fixture on the menu. These days, Mattos shows his love for the ingredient in one of the best brunch dishes in the country. It's also one of the simplest: White beans are cooked with spicy harissa paste and topped with croutons, fried eggs, and showered in a healthy helping of mojama shavings. Mojama takes a relatively simple dish to a completely different level, says Mattos. The salty umami notes that would otherwise be composed of (deliciously) low notes.

How to Use It at Home

All too often, chefs obsess over ingredients that can be way too prohibitively expensive for the home cook (or have such a short shelf life that you could never use all of it). But while Mattos points out that mojama is "usually quite pricey" (about $40 per pound), just a small amount creates a big impact. And what to do with the half-pound brick of it you just ordered online while reading this? Good news is, mojama can be kept in the refrigerator (wrapped in plastic) for upwards of six months, so there's no need to embark on a mojama bender to use it all up in a flash.

Mattos' mantra when using mojama or any other product with a highly concentrated flavor is "the simpler you keep it, the better." Don't use it to accent a dish that's already complicated. And the old adage of "less is more" definitely applies too. Think of mojama as a garnish and never the star of the show. And finally, don't cook it. The delicate texture and briny flavor is at its best when mojama is simply shaved or grated over a finished dish.

Mattos recommends grating mojama using a Microplane over any of the following:

Whole-grain toast topped with either a salad of red onion, parsley,
lemon juice, and a fried egg or thick slices of raw tomato showered
with flecks of sea salt and olive oil

White beans and a bit of their cooking liquid, drizzled with olive
oil ("That's how the Italians do it.")

Pasta coated with sautéed with garlic and olive oil, topped with
roasted cherry tomatoes and breadcrumbs

Simple soft-scrambled eggs

Whole marcona almonds toasted in olive oil

Where to Buy It

Mojama is available at many local Spanish specialty foods stores, or online at Despaña.